legends · 3 min read ·
Pantry Inventory
A supermarket keeps substituting tinned pears into one woman's weekly order, and the tin opener arrives before she asks.
**Order #88214-D · Delivered to: 9 Kestle Court, Flat 2**
**Customer:** Dana Pike · **Items ordered:** 6 · **Substitutions:** 2
**Order summary**
- Semi-skimmed milk, 2 pints: *Delivered*
- Wholemeal bread, large: *Delivered*
- Tinned pears in light syrup, 400 g: *Not in ordered list. Added by picker. Reason: substitution (requested item "fruit, tinned" unavailable).*
- Eggs, free range, 6: *Delivered*
- Washing-up liquid: *Delivered*
- Oats, porridge: *Delivered*
**Customer note:** I didn't order pears. Please check the order before you deliver it. I'm not allergic to anything, I'm just not hungry for pears.
· · ·
**Picker note (Store 31, aisle 9, 07:12):** Substitution for "fruit, tinned" was pears in light syrup, brand Hallam's. Customer's order history shows she bought the same brand 40 times in the last two years. Assumed a preference. Substituted.
· · ·
**Order #88391-D · Delivered to: 9 Kestle Court, Flat 2**
**Customer:** Dana Pike · **Items ordered:** 4 · **Substitutions:** 3
- Butter, salted, 250 g: *Delivered*
- Tinned pears in light syrup, 400 g: *Not in ordered list. Added by picker. Reason: substitution (requested item "tinned fruit" unavailable).*
- Tinned pears in light syrup, 400 g: *Not in ordered list. Added by picker. Reason: substitution (requested item "tinned fruit" unavailable).*
- Tea bags, 80 count: *Delivered*
**Customer note:** Please stop sending the pears. Cancel the substitutions. I don't have anywhere to put them.
**Picker note (Store 31, aisle 9, 06:58):** Customer's cancellation request not found in order system. Substitution rules set to "auto-replace, same brand." Two tins replaced with two tins, per rule.
· · ·
**Automated order summary (week 43)**
- Items delivered: 23
- Items ordered by customer: 18
- Items added by substitution: 5
**Substitution list (week 43)**
1. Tinned pears, Hallam's, 400 g × 4
2. Tin opener, manual, × 1 (reason: "kitchen item, requested by customer in notes")
The customer has not requested a tin opener. The customer's notes section contains the words *a kitchen with nothing in it*.
· · ·
**Picker note (Store 31, 07:40):** Customer has requested delivery be left inside the front door, as usual. Door code is 4417. Items placed on counter. Picker noted the counter already had six tins of pears on it, labelled in pencil with a date in the past week. Each tin had the customer's name written on the lid.
Picker noted the flat was quiet and smelled of syrup and something sweeter underneath, like fruit left out in a warm room.
· · ·
**Order #88502-D · Delivered to: 9 Kestle Court, Flat 2**
**Customer:** Dana Pike · **Items ordered:** 0 · **Substitutions:** 0
*Order cannot be placed. Customer's delivery address is linked to an open substitution rule. Please review.*
· · ·
**Customer message (sent 22:14, from the app's help chat)**
*I've been looking at my pantry. The shelves are full. The fridge is full. Everything I ever bought is in here and I'm eating the same breakfast every day, and I didn't buy any of it this week.*
*I checked the order history. It shows I ordered a tin of pears every Monday for two years. It shows a tin opener. It shows the brand I used to buy when I was a girl, which they haven't stocked since the nineties. Please tell me how you're getting these things.*
*And please tell me why the order says "Delivered to: inside."*
· · ·
**Support reply (automated)**
Thank you for contacting us. Your order history has been reviewed. Your account contains no errors.
Substitutions are made automatically when an item is unavailable. Substitutions are chosen from items previously purchased by the customer. This is intended to keep your household supplied.
Please do not place a new order until your household inventory has been reviewed.
· · ·
**Picker note (Store 31, 05:50, the morning after)**
I found the pears in the kitchen this morning when I went in to check. They were on the counter, all of them, in a row, with the lids off. There was one tin more than the order said. It had been opened, and the spoon was in it, and the spoon had been used, and the handle was warm.